Research shows that children with language impairment (LI) often have deficits in social communication. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a social communication intervention targeting emotion understanding on teacher perceptions of withdrawal in six elementary-aged boys with LI. The intervention incorporated four elements into treatment sessions: a) Story sharing of children's literature that was rich in emotional content and prosocial behaviors; b) Story enactment of the same children's literature; c) identification and discussion of pictures of facial expressions; and d) journaling to help internalize and reflect on emotions and social behaviors targeted. Two withdrawal subscales of the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS), reticence and solitary-passive behavior, were used as variables with which to measure teacher perception. Pre and postintervention measures of teacher ratings were taken and compared for each participant. Results indicated that four of the six participants improved in ratings of withdrawn behaviors following treatment. Two of the boys improved 2 SD for ratings of reticence. Two additional participants did not show improvement, but remained stable in their pre and posttreatment scores for both reticence and solitary-passive withdrawal. These results indicate a generally favorable outcome of the social communication intervention with regard to social withdrawal in children with LI.

Recent studies and literature regarding children with language impairment (LI) indicate that these children have difficulty with social communication skills. This study assessed the effect of a social communication intervention on teacher perceptions of withdrawal in six elementary school age participants with LI. The social communication intervention included story sharing, identifying pictures of facial expressions, and journaling to target emotion understanding. The Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS) was utilized to measure teacher perception of withdrawal. The TBRS examined three subscales of social withdrawal: solitary-active withdrawal, solitary-passive withdrawal, and reticence. Following treatment, teacher ratings of withdrawn behavior decreased for all six participants on some of the subscales. Solitary-active behavior decreased for four of the six participants, solitary-passive behavior decreased for five participants, and reticent behavior decreased for three participants. Teacher ratings of withdrawal for two participants increased on a single subscale, however. These changes suggest positive post-treatment outcomes with regard to withdrawn behavior in children with LI.

Research has shown that children with language impairment (LI) exhibit difficulties with both social communication and syntax. This study analyzed the effect of a social communication intervention on syntactic development, focusing on grammatical complexity in three children with LI when enacting stories. The intervention included reading and enacting stories, playing games with picture emotion cards and journaling. Each child's mean length of terminal unit (t-unit), the number and type of subordinate clauses they produced per t-unit, and the grammaticality of their complex sentences was analyzed. While none of the children increased their mean length of t-unit or the grammaticality of their sentences, one participant showed a slight increase in the number of subordinate clauses she used and another participant changed the basic format with which she enacted stories to a more mature format. The results of this study did not support the claim that a single intervention could target both social communicative and syntactic goals simultaneously. There were limitations to this study that, if addressed, could potentially support this claim.

Recent research indicates that children with language impairment (LI) often experience difficulties with social communication. Although the empirical basis for general social communication intervention is growing, information documenting the efficacy of these interventions for children with LI remains limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a social communication intervention on teacher perceptions of sociability in five elementary-aged children with LI. The intervention focused on the presentation and use of children's stories to target aspects of emotion understanding. The two sociability subscales of the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS), impulse control/likeability and prosocial behavior, were used as variables with which to measure teacher perception. Pre and post intervention measures of teacher ratings were taken and compared for each participant. Results indicated that four of the five participants received higher ratings for prosocial behaviors following treatment, with two participants scoring within typical range for their age. Two participants remained stable in their pre and posttreatment scores for impulse control/likeability, one participant increased in their ratings, and two of the participants had a decline in posttreatment scores for impulse control/likeability. This study revealed noteworthy improvements in prosocial behaviors in children with LI, even while problems with impulse control remained or increased. This was to be expected considering the intervention focused on emotion understanding which leads to prosocial behavior, whereas the intervention did not focus explicitly on impulse control. Implications of these results were discussed and suggestions for further research were offered.

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulty in initiating and maintaining social dialogue in multiple settings. This study examined the effects of training multiple social scripts, used in sequence, on the number of conversational exchanges within a social dialogue in four male participants with ASD. A multiple baseline design was used across participants to determine if there was an increase in the number of conversational exchanges within a social dialogue after training. In training sessions, participants learned the scripted conversations and used them to engage in social dialogue. During training sessions, scripts were completely faded for three of four participants. However, none of the participants demonstrated an increase in the number of conversational exchanges during the generalization condition in naturalistic settings. This failure to increase in the number of conversational exchanges in generalization settings could possibly be attributed to one or more of the following: a lack of a discriminative stimulus to cue the use of the script, too many words in the scripts, lack of training on more simple scripts first, and a lack of adequate time to facilitate generalization.

This study aims to furnish a semiotic reading of Sydney's Chinatown by analysing the environmental meanings codified in that particular context. The basic unit of analysis is the shop sign. Some features underlying sign formations in Sydney's Chinatown are identified and the communication process involved in its organisation of meanings and space is explored. The thesis is organised into three parts. The first part gives an introduction to the background of study and examines theories on architectural semiotics and its relation to visual communication. It consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 defines the scope of the study and outlines the objectives and goals of research. Chapter 2 focuses on two related fields of architectural semiotics, viz. semiotics of objects and semiotics of space. Evaluation of semiotic approaches and behavioural science approaches to the study of objects and space is made. Some of the theories discussed are applied to give a profile of shop signs from a visual semiotic perspective. In Chapter 3 a description of the methods of research and an outline of the analytical framework of this study are given. The two chapters of Part Two provide some background information on various conceptions of "Chinatown". Chapter 4 discusses the development features of Chinatowns in North America, which reveal that there are divergent perceptions of Chinatowns. Chapter 5 describes the development of Sydney's Chinatown and underlines some of its distinctive features. In Part Three the results of the study are presented. Chapter 6 focuses on the codification of meanings realised in Sydney's Chinatown. Chapter 7 is concerned with elements of sign formations and examines the communicative functions of shop signs in the Chinatown context. The analyses made in these chapters are intended to identify some features of sign formations in Sydney's Chinatown within an architectonic system. The thesis concludes with a summary of the study and a discussion of the applicability of architectural semiotic theories. It is suggested that further study can be pursued in the direction that contributes to an understanding of architectonic systems and social communication.

Social communication deficits have been identified as one of the core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies have shown that video modeling is an effective intervention for improving social communication in children with ASD. The purpose of this project is to provide an accessible resource for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) seeking to implement video modeling interventions for children with ASD, drawing upon empirical research to inform recommended procedures for SLPs. This guidebook provides step-by-step procedures for implementing video modeling intervention, including selection of target behaviors and video models, video production, techniques for implementing interventions, and methods of measuring progress. Associated intervention strategies are also discussed. Additional resources are provided to support SLPs in implementing video modeling interventions, including data collection forms, sample scripts, and sample lesson plans. This project also includes examples of videos created using children and adults as models. As video modeling appears to be an effective approach for ameliorating social communication deficits in children with ASD, SLPs may benefit from a practical guide for implementing video modeling interventions in a variety of settings. / text

Tyrimo objektas: Žmonių, sergančių Parkinsono liga, depresijos lygis ir socialinių ryšių sąsajos. Raktiniai žodžiai: Parkinsono liga, depresija, socialiniai ryšiai. Tyrimo tikslas - ištirti žmonių sergančių Parkinsono liga depresijos lygio ir socialinių ryšių sąsajas. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti žmonių, sergančių Parkinsono liga socialinių ryšių ypatumus. 2. Ištirti žmonių, sergančių Parkinsono liga depresijos atskirus komponentus ir bendrą depresijos lygį. 3. Nustatyti, žmonių sergančių Parkinsono liga socialinių ryšių ir depresijos sąsajas. Tyrimas atliktas “Saulės” šeimos medicinos centre ir Všį klinikinėje ligoninėje. Testavime dalyvavo 20 Parkinsono liga sergančių asmenų, kurie lankosi, “Saulės” šeimos medicinos centre. Visi tiriamieji buvo išskirti į dvi grupes pagal amžių nuo 60-74 pagyvenę ir daugiau kaip 75 seni. Atliekant anketavimą pirmąją anketa buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti socialinius ryšius, antrąją anketa buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti depresijos lygių tarp socialinių ryšių sąsajas. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad amžius, vaistų naudojimas, draugų apsilankymas, gyvenimas su artimaisiais, draugų turejimas, turi įtakos depresijos lygiui. Gyvenantys su artimaisiais, bei turintys draugų turi mažesnį depresijos lygį nei gyvenantys vieniši ir neturintys draugų. / Investigation: People, who has Parkinson's disease, depression’s level and social communication interfaces. Key words: Parkinson‘s disease, depression, social communication. The purpose of investigation: to investigate, people, who has parkinson‘s disease, the level of depression and social communication interfaces. Problems: 1. To set people‘s, who has Parkinson‘s disease the social communication features. 2. To investigate people, who has Parkinson's disease, depression of separate components and the overall level of depression. 3. To set people‘s, who has Parkinson‘s disease the social communication and interfaces of depression. Researches was made in „Saulės“ family‘s medicine centre and Všį clinical hospital. Test had 20 participated people, who has Parkinson‘s disease, who attends to visit „Saulės“ family‘s medicine centre. By participator‘s age two groups were made: 1st group, 60 – 74 years old, and 2nd group 75 and older. During the test, first account was made to find out the social communication interface, and with second account – the level of depression between social communication‘s interfaces. During the research, there was found out, that the age, medicine‘s usage, friend‘s visit, living with family, having friend, has influence to the level of depression. People who live with family and has friends has lower level of depression than people who live alone and doesn‘t have any friends.

Social communication deficits have been identified as one of the core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies have shown that video modeling is an effective intervention for improving social communication in children with ASD. The purpose of this project is to provide an accessible resource for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) seeking to implement video modeling interventions for children with ASD, drawing upon empirical research to inform recommended procedures for SLPs. This guidebook provides step-by-step procedures for implementing video modeling intervention, including selection of target behaviors and video models, video production, techniques for implementing interventions, and methods of measuring progress. Associated intervention strategies are also discussed. Additional resources are provided to support SLPs in implementing video modeling interventions, including data collection forms, sample scripts, and sample lesson plans. This project also includes examples of videos created using children and adults as models. As video modeling appears to be an effective approach for ameliorating social communication deficits in children with ASD, SLPs may benefit from a practical guide for implementing video modeling interventions in a variety of settings.

A comunicação científica constitui o substrato da pesquisa científica. Por meio dela se configuram os campos de legitimação do conhecimento. Este trabalho de tese se dedicou ao estudo do campo dos biocombustíveis através da comunicação científica. O referido campo de pesquisa envolve diferentes áreas do conhecimento e se refere às demandas energéticas da sociedade pós-industrial. Foram analisados dez anos da comunicação científica para se estabelecer as dimensões disciplinares sobre as quais essa discussão se sustenta. Para tanto, dois métodos de pesquisa foram combinados. Utilizou-se a bibliometria e a análise de conteúdo quantitativa, através de técnicas de text mining. A análise bibliométrica foi realizada com dados quantitativos sobre a comunicação científica, disponíveis na base Web of Science. A análise de conteúdo quantitativa foi feita com textos completos dos artigos e revisões científicas sobre biocombustíveis, utilizando-se o software Wordstat. Os dados bibliométicos apresentaram um alto grau de interdisciplinaridade expresso pela inter-relação de 132 áreas do conhecimento. Ademais, observou-se a predominância das áreas da Química (1.513 artigos e revisões), Engenharias (1.157) e Ciências Agrárias (1.029), configurando um campo com inserção eminentemente tecnológica. Na análise de conteúdo foi possível revelar uma inserção muito significativa das Ciências Sociais na argumentação dos artigos e revisões analisados. Com os dados obtidos foi possível dividir o campo dos biocombustíveis em três grupos de dimensões disciplinares, que o contextualizam. No primeiro grupo, de maior abrangência, participam as dimensões disciplinares das Ciências Agrárias, das Ciências Sociais e das Ciências Ambientais. No segundo grupo, que constitui a base tecnológica do campo, se expressam as dimensões disciplinares da Química, da Engenharia e da Microbiologia. O terceiro grupo, de expressão emergente, reúne as dimensões disciplinares da Biologia e Bioquímica, Ciências Animais e Vegetais, Biologia Molecular e Genética, Economia, Ciência dos Materiais, Nanociências e Nanotecnologia, Geociências, Física, Humanidades, Ciências Multidisciplinares, Matemática e Ciências da Computação. Infere-se que o primeiro grupo de dimensões disciplinares encerra os componentes que justificam socialmente o progresso do campo dos biocombustíveis, enquanto o segundo grupo representa a base tecnológica em que se sustenta essa temática de pesquisa. O terceiro grupo representa as áreas emergentes. No trabalho, formula-se uma métrica para a aferição da expressão da Interdisciplinaridade, útil também para outros campos de pesquisa. / The scientific communication on biofuels published from 1998 to 2007 was analysed by the use of a combination of bibliometric methods and techniques of content analysis. The analysis characterized this field of research as interdisciplinary with marked social relevance. The bibliometric study showed that in this research field 132 different, interacting areas concur with knowledge. Content analysis configured this field under the context of three groups of disciplinary dimensions. The first group, of broader influence, includes Agricultural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Environmental Sciences. The second group, which makes up the technological bases of the field, includes the disciplinary dimensions of Chemistry, Engineering, and Microbiology. In the third group, there are the disciplinary dimensions with emergent expressions in the field of biofuels, namely Biology and Biochemistry, Animal and Plant Sciences, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Economy, Material Sciences, Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Geosciences, Physics, Humanities, Muldisciplinary Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. One can infer from the study that the first group of disciplinary dimensions conform the elements that socially validate the progress of the research in the field of biofuels. Furthermore, in this work a metric is presented for the measurement of the expression of the interdisciplinarity of a research field, useful for the analysis of the biofuel research field and of others as well.